Midst of Rough Earthliness
by The Reel Lifer
Summary: Maybe Ted can't cook, but Booster could get used to this. A trip to the park with Junior, introspection, and Japanese. Mulletverse interlude. SLASH.


**Title:** Midst Of Rough Earthliness  
**Fandom:** Justice League  
**Characters:** Booster/Beetle, Junior (OMC), Melinda (OFC), OFC  
**Prompt:** "Orange"  
**Word Count:** 1458  
**Rating:** PG?  
**Author's Notes:** I...did...an _ungodly_ amount of research for this. They're probably in Seward Park if anyone cares! I've never even been there! You know how I determined that? Because it's 1.7 miles from Giordano's Pizza, another place I've never been.  
This takes place an unspecified amount of time after the events of _Hairy Situations and Situational Hair_, but not _very_ long after, and is a part of the "Mullet-verse." (I can't remember who first called it that, but it wasn't me.) It is also part of my "fanfic100" list, which is a thing on LiveJournal where you sign up for a fandom and characters and then write a hundred stories with the list of prompts.  
Title is from Henri Frederic Amiel's quote, "Blessed be childhood, which brings something of heaven into the **midst of** our **rough earthliness**." I know this quote because it is in my Child Growth & Development textbook, which has been invaluable to me while writing Mullet-verse stuff. :)  
Translations are at the bottom.  
---------------

**Midst Of Rough Earthliness**

The playground equipment was varying shades of dull, weathered orange with occasional curves and bars and chains of tarnished metal where plastic wasn't practical. The light but overcast sky had done nothing to blunt the enthusiasm of the children in the park, high-pitched voices rising in shrieks of delight and laughter, punctuated only rarely by tears when one thought an injury might elicit parental fussing and attention. 

Parents were solitary figures scattered throughout the rushing bodies of children at play. Some sitting on benches with watchful eyes, some standing off to the side with indulgent smiles, some helping their younger, smaller children make their way around the equipment. 

It all made Booster feel a little self-conscious and way out of his depth. At least, it did when he wasn't too distracted by his heart leaping into his throat as Junior narrowly avoided injuring himself yet again. 

It didn't help that he knew perfectly well that the boy was capable of looking out for himself, Booster still felt nervous watching him walking on top of the monkey bars. 

"Hello?" 

Booster flinched in surprise and dragged his eyes from Junior's antics to the speaker. It was a woman, long blonde hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. She was slender but not skinny, had bright brown eyes, and looked to be in her early thirties. 

Her scarf, loosely hanging from her shoulders, was almost the exact same shade of orange as the playground equipment. 

"Um..." Booster stared down at her, brain frantically trying to come up with something to say. Usually, when presented with an attractive woman, he flirted. This woman was attractive, and his automatic glance at her ring finger suggested she wasn't married. And he certainly didn't mind single mothers. Single mothers were quite often very happy to get a date, and there was always the possibility of scoring brownie points by being nice to their kids. 

Yes, Booster had quite happily dated a number of single mothers before. 

The thing was...now there was Ted. Granted, Ted was still stubbornly clinging to denial, but he was gradually thawing. And as he thawed, there was more he let Booster get away with. 

Booster was pretty sure he was only a week away from being able to grab Ted's butt without the man jumping away and yelping. 

Luckily, the woman took care of opening the conversation herself. "I...haven't seen you here before." 

"We just moved here." Booster said, mostly honestly. 

The woman smiled and offered him her hand. "I'm Melinda." 

"Michael." Booster replied with barely any hesitation, briefly shaking her hand. Ted had been very clear about keeping their identities secret, for Junior's sake. That meant no introducing himself as Booster Gold at PTA meetings, or things like that. "Nice to meet you." 

"Nice to meet you, Michael," Melinda replied, then glanced over at the playground. "Which one's yours?" 

Booster looked over and winced as Junior let himself fall backward off the monkey bars, only to quickly bend backwards and whip his hands out to catch the bars. Junior was grinning. "The one on the monkey bars," Booster said through gritted teeth. 

Smiling sympathetically, Melinda said, "I see. What's his name?" 

"Junior. Um, Michael--Mikey." Booster shrugged wryly. "He prefers 'Junior'. Um, yours?" 

"Oh, she's--Oh!" Melinda covered an amused smile with one hand and pointed with the other. Booster followed her gaze back to the monkey bars, where Junior was finally back on solid ground. The reason for his return to terra firma was clearly the pigtailed little girl hanging from the bars. Junior had his hands on either side of her waist, ready to catch her if she lost her grip, and was carefully avoiding her flailing legs as he spoke encouragingly. 

"I assume that's your daughter my son's trying to corrupt," Booster said dryly. 

Melinda chuckled. "That's her. Nine years of hyperactive energy. How old is...Junior?" 

"About fourteen," Booster said before he could stop himself. 

"'About'...?" 

"He...just turned fourteen." Nonexistent to fourteen-ish counted as 'just turned', right? "Still not used to it." Also true. 

Melinda smiled with understanding and was about to speak when Booster's head swiveled around at the sound of a familiar voice. 

"No I--Look, I've been put on hold twice already and been through three different menus. I'm starting to suspect every human in the company's been replaced by answering machines since I left!" 

There, looking ruffled and frustrated as he multi-tasked by talking in a cell phone and walking at the same time, was Ted. 

"Hey, Ted." Booster greeted him as the man came to a stop next to him. He leaned over to peck the side of Ted's head and got his arm patted absently in response. Glancing back over at Melinda and taking in her surprised expression, Booster cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly. "Um...this is Ted." 

"What, you didn't get the memo? I'm not dead. ...Yes, well I think _I_ would know! Look, I'm not looking to take over, I'd be perfectly happy working R an' D again. ...Because you're not the only one to think I'm dead, and I need a source of income while I fix this mess. D'you know how much hassle it is convincing the government of something when they've made up their mind?" 

Booster could tell Ted was irritated, there was a bit more "Chicago" in his voice than usual. Many heroes who did any significant amount of traveling usually lost some of the distinguishing parts of their accent. That Ted was reverting to old speech patterns suggested he was stressed and rapidly reaching the end of his rope. 

"No! Don't-don't hang up, Dr. Hoshi, I've had _way_ too much of that than is good for my health! Just--" Covering the mouthpiece of the phone, Ted turned to Booster with a pleading look on his face. "You're better at negotiating than I am, could you...?" 

"No problem." Booster said, taking the offered phone. He motioned toward Melinda as he stepped away. "Ted, Melinda. Melinda, Ted. Hoshi Kimiyo-_sama_? _Hikari-hakasei_? _Konichiwa_! Michael Carter...Yes, that one! _O-genki desu ka_?" 

Ted stared at him for a moment, then turned to Melinda with a slightly dazed expression. "Uh...nice to meet you...?" 

"Melinda," she repeated for him, a similar expression on her face. "So! Um...you t--I mean, I couldn't help overhearing, um, dead?" 

Absently rubbing his elbow, Ted replied, "Uh, presumed dead. Missing. It was...a huge...thing." 

"I...see." Melinda smiled uncertainly. "So, you're...?" 

"Ted." He held out a hand. 

Shaking his hand, Melinda's smile became less uncertain. "Actually, I meant are you Junior's...father?" 

"Oh! Right. Yes. I am. His father." Ted chuckled wryly. "Sorry, it's been a long day." 

"_Chotto matte kudasai._ Hey Ted, when can you start work?" 

"Uh, Monday?" 

"_Getsu-yobi_? _Zen zen daijobu_. ..._Daijobu_. _Domo arigato gozaimasu_! ...Mm-hm. ..._Hai_, Junior. _Watashi to_ Ted _no musuko_. ..._Iie_--Ha! _Iie, maho_. _Hai_. ..._Daijobu_. _Arigato_. _Oyasumi nasai, sayonara_!" Booster tossed the phone to Ted and spread his hands smugly. "You start on Monday." 

"I...You are...amazing." Ted said, staring at him. 

Booster grinned. "Amazing enough that you'll fix dinner tonight?" 

"Sure thing." Ted replied with a smirk. "I'll even use an old family recipe. ...At least, that's what Giordano's on Randolph street claims it is." 

"Funny." Booster pulled a face at him, then turned to Melinda. "Ah, we should go. It was nice meeting you." 

"It's been...a pleasure, Michael." Melinda said, smiling. 

"Junior!" Ted called. 

The boy hurried over, carrying his pigtailed friend on his back. "Hey, dad!" 

"How you doing, kiddo?" 

"This place is cool! The monkeybars are way more fun than the roof." 

Ted's expression was frozen as he leaned over and muttered to Booster, "You've been letting him play on the roof?" 

"You're implying I _knew_ he was playing on the roof?" Booster muttered back. 

Not noticing their muttered conversation, Junior continued. "And I made a friend!" He beamed and jostled the girl, who laughed and hugged her arms around his neck tighter. "These are my dads. Toldja I had two." 

The girl let go of her deathgrip on him long enough to wave a hand at them before clinging to Junior again. 

"We've gotta go, Junior. I'm making dinner." 

"Pizza?" Junior asked, leaning down so the girl could climb off his back. 

"I cook!" Ted protested, looking insulted. 

"Um...'kay." Junior scratched at his ear, his expression carefully blank. 

Ted sighed. "Yes, pizza. Let's go." 

Junior grinned, then turned and tweaked the girl's pigtail. "Bye, squirt! Keep practicing." 

Batting his hand away, the girl giggled and hugged him, then hurried to her mom's side. "Bye!" 

Easily falling into step, with Junior hurrying ahead of them, Booster threw an arm around Ted, smiling when the man made no move to get away. Yeah, he could get used to this. 

----- 

I have a confession. I don't speak Japanese. At all. I do know a word or two (which is actually far less than I should probably know after going to A-Kon for three years straight), but I don't speak it. Luckily, many people online apparently do, and kindly put up guides to the language. And the kind folks on LiveJournal, where I first posted this, were helpful in correcting some of my mistakes. So if you actually know Japanese and notice any mistakes...well, I did my best. Snippiness is unnecessary and unappreciated. ;)  
That said, here's what was said, as best I could get it. (Why I felt the need to even include it, I have no idea.) 

**Translations:**  
"Hoshi Kimiyo-_sama_? _Hikari-hakasei_? _Konichiwa_! Michael Carter...Yes, that one! _O-genki desu ka_?"  
"(Formal honorific) Kimiyo Hoshi? Dr. Light? Hello! Michael Carter...Yes, that one! How are you?" 

"_Chotto matte kudasai._"  
"Wait just a moment, please." 

"_Getsu-yobi_? _Zen zen daijobu_. ..._Daijobu_. _Domo arigato gozaimasu_! ...Mm-hm. ..._Hai_, Junior. _Watashi to_ Ted _no musuko_. ..._Iie_--Ha! _Iie, maho_. _Hai_. ..._Daijobu_. _Arigato_. _Oyasumi nasai, sayonara_!"  
"Monday? No problem. ...Okay. Thank you very much! ...Mm-hm. ...Yes, Junior. Me and Ted's son. ...No--Ha! No, magic. Yes. ...Okay. Thanks. Good evening, goodbye!" 


End file.
